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Johannesburg - Struggle stalwart Ahmed Kathrada took responsibility in the struggle, not for positions, but to help others, former finance minister Trevor Manuel said on Tuesday.
"In mourning his passing, I think we mourn the coming to an end of that generation," Manuel said outside Kathrada's home in Killarney, Johannesburg.
Manuel said Kathrada had died with the same resilience and dignity with which he had lived. The ANC veteran had treated everybody with dignity and strength.
Manuel told reporters that his first encounter with Kathrada was when he was detained in solidarity confinement. He said Kathrada had given him hope.
"There are some things he didn't achieve [after he was released from prison]. The driving after so many years became too difficult for him in Joburg.
"He wasn't threatened by ideas. He was prepared to engage in ideas, prepared to listen to people," Manuel said.
Kathrada died in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He was 87.
He had undergone surgery relating to a blood clot on the brain earlier this month, but experienced several post-operative complications and contracted pneumonia in both lungs.
Kathrada will be buried at the Westpark Cemetery on Wednesday in accordance with Muslim funeral rituals, his foundation said.
The funeral will begin around 10:00 and include a tribute from former president and the foundation's board member, Kgalema Motlanthe.
